Pohang Cheolgilsup Wins Grand Prize at 'Asia Urban Landscape Awards'... Proving World-Class Status!

Awarded by UN-Habitat, This Year's 'Asia Urban Landscape Award' Grand Prize

From Abandoned Railway to Urban Forest Rebirth, Green City Greenway Project

Pohang Cheolgilsup.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] ‘Pohang Cheolgilsup’ received the main prize at this year’s Asian Townscape Awards.

Pohang City’s ‘Greenway Project’ is recognized as a sustainable green city creation policy with international success potential beyond Korea.

The ‘Asian Townscape Awards (ATA)’ is an internationally prestigious award jointly hosted by five organizations including the UN Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Fukuoka), Asia Habitat Association, and Asia Landscape Design Society. It aims to build a happy living environment for Asians and is awarded to cities, regions, and projects that have achieved exemplary results in urban landscape creation.

Entries were received from Asian countries including Korea, and after preliminary screening by country and joint evaluation by the host organizations and judges from each country, the final main prize winners were selected.

The judging criteria include ▲harmony with ecological environment and humanities ▲safe and convenient sustainability ▲respect for local culture and history ▲high artistic value ▲contribution to regional development and exemplary cases for other cities. A total of 11 main prizes were awarded: 3 from Korea, 3 from China, 2 from Japan, and 1 from Hong Kong.

The Asian Townscape Awards respect the cultural characteristics of each country and do not rank the works but only decide on main prize winners. In Korea, along with ‘Pohang Cheolgilsup,’ Seoul’s ‘Hanok Preservation Promotion Policy’ and Busan’s ‘Yeongdo Modern History Trace Map’ received main prizes.

UN Habitat evaluated, “Pohang Cheolgilsup is a model project where an old railway line that long blocked the city center was reborn as a linear urban forest, establishing a green network linked with surrounding mountains and parks, transforming it into a public space frequently visited by citizens.”

They acknowledged the achievements of Pohang Cheolgilsup, stating, “Public art works from the Steel Art Festival and various cultural activities involving citizens create an urban landscape where nature, culture, and people harmonize, leading the regeneration of the surrounding area.”

Citizens are walking through the Cheolgilsup forest.

Pohang Cheolgilsup has been recognized globally for its excellence, receiving the UK’s Green Flag Award (GFA) certification and being selected as a model urban forest by the Korea Forest Service this year, along with a total of 10 domestic and international prestigious awards related to green cities and urban landscapes since 2017.

Mayor Kang-deok Lee of Pohang said, “Receiving an award from UN Habitat, which deals with urbanization and human settlement, proves that Pohang City is correctly advancing as a sustainable green city through the ‘Greenway Project’ represented by Cheolgilsup. We will continue to integrate the Greenway Project throughout the city so that all citizens can use and enjoy urban forests, parks, and green spaces in their daily lives.”

The works selected as winners of this contest can be viewed on the official website of the UN Habitat Regional Office for Asia and Pacific Fukuoka.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.